Our primary consideration should be to manage the economy in a way we can maintain life as long as the solar system allows us. Presently we disregard the damage we are doing to the planet and the biosphere, because our leaders have to give priority to the economy, that’s for the wealthy to increase their wealth and power

The tragedy is, one fundamentalism feeds another. Promotion of Al Qaeda and accompanying radical version of Islam is used as a pretext by other fundamentalist tendencies to strengthen them. The Norway tragedy should wake up the World to the reality of this dastardly economic-political reason of terrorism

India’s rightwing parties have been caught unawares. A part of them would really like to take a bow over the 100 odd pages that Anders Breivik has dedicated to them, but they are aware that this is not quite the right time

The FBI was teaching new recruits about Muslims with a power point presentation that recommended they read anti-Islam books, according to a grainy copy of the PowerPoint obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union’s Northern California chapter and the Asian Law Caucus, a San Francisco-based civil rights group

If the powers that be read the writing on the wall and decode the emergence of a bitter opposition to the UID scheme, Nilekani might well lose the job. Will sovereign citizens of India permit the emergence of a 'database state', which intends to unfold a surveillance regime by converging government plans?

The disappearance of commons and wetlands affects immediately the number of bird species recorded in a region. Delhi boasts a checklist of 500 species of birds, the second highest in the world in a city (after Nairobi), but in recent years, even during peak birding season, birders record a maximum of 271 species—the number was recorded during a bird count in March 2005—a whopping nearly 50% decline. It’s the same story in other cities

We have received a tremendous gift – to be alive at the edge of these changing times. It’s not an easy gift, if we look open-eyed into possible futures. Yet within this gift lies the tremendous opportunity (and yes, responsibility) of crafting tools to place in the hands of those who come after, to enable them to shape the world in which they live through their own vision

This time there were about 100 taking part in the protest. I don't know if any were Libyans, but there was a new element — almost half of the protesters were black, marching with signs saying: "Stop Bombing Africa"

Republican Rep. Peter King continued his anti-Muslim witch hunt Wednesday with his congressional hearing on the so-called "radicalization" of American Muslims. This time the focus of his hearing was the Somali community

Access to education and employment are only the enabling factors to their political empowerment. Perhaps, political empowerment would contribute to their overall empowerment. To do so would require us legislate over the issue that has been kept in abeyance for so long, lest half of our society would retaliate and teach us a lesson!

The Aadhaar project is an unconscionably expensive, unaccountable and virtually secret program that can hold the key to a total-surveillance-State, making the Constitution of India a dead document. From system design and security considerations, the Aadhaar scheme deserves to be blocked with immediate effect and reviewed from scratch in the national best interest

Arab revolutions are attempting to examine larger issues that have tremendous impact on all aspects of life. Western media and intellectuals, however, continue to seek only easy answers to intricate, multifaceted questions. In doing so, they follow the path of the same superficial, stereotypical and predictable discourse

The recent act of terrorism in Norway that killed many innocent civilians has been twisted and used as an opportunity by the capitalist media and politicians to demonise Islam and Muslims, to justify ongoing Western terrorism. The aim is to enforce a distorted view that Islam is associated with terrorism

It is unfortunate that trouble should rock Kashmir shortly before the Pakistan and Indian foreign ministers meet in New Delhi after an agonizing one-year wait. Once again, Indian army personnel have allegedly dishonored a Kashmiri woman, leading to anti-India demonstrations by thousands of people, mostly youth, in the Manzagam village on Friday. And while the protests are in progress, there comes another molestation attempt by an Indian Soldier in Hyderbeg area of Pattan in North Kashmir

This is Asif Ali Zardari’s shrewdest move. Sending Hina Rabbani Khar on what amounts to be the equivalent of cricket diplomacy. This is not meant to be a sexist comment. She pretty much sailed through the India test by fire even as Pakistani intellectuals and the media have been rubbishing her ever since she was appointed to the post

Tim DeChristopher, who was sentenced today to two years in federal prison for disrupting a Bureau of Land Management auction in 2008, had an opportunity to address the court and the judge today immediately before his sentence was announced. This is what he said

After being found guilty in March (of making a false statement and violating the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act), activist Tim DeChristopher was sentenced today in federal court to two years in prison and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. He was taken into custody immediately

There are well-developed steady-state economic models, pioneered by Herman Daly and others. There are even stepwise plans to transition our economy into a steady-state. But not one of those steps will be taken if people (who elect politicians) do not crave this result. The only way people will crave this result is if they understand (or experience) the impossibility of continued growth and the consequences of not acting soon enough. I hope we can collectively be smart enough to make this transition

The shrinkage of irrigation water supplies in the big three grain-producing countries—the United States, India, and China—is of particular concern. Thus far, these countries have managed to avoid falling harvests at the national level, but continued overexploitation of aquifers could soon catch up with them

A lot of commentary has already appeared from various quarters. Instead of adding to the bytes, I have collected some relevant material at one place for anybody to make an informed judgement. The presentation below has following 7 sections: (i) Introductory Observations (ii) Norway's Middle East Initiative (iii) Humanistic Norwegian Official Response (iv) Media Spin on the Terrorist Attack (v) Key Investigation Areas (vi) Views of Terrorist Anders Behring Breivik (vii) Defenders of Anders Behring Breivik

While some 10 million Somalis living in the Ogaden in Ethiopia are the victims of a drought and food aid blockade the WFP remains silent, complicit in genocide. World Food Program, angle of mercy or angel of death? You be the judge

The dark clouds of racism and war swell ominously on the horizon today. Nelson Mandela's heartening message is more timely than ever, and it is his lived experience; from oppressed political prisoner, to president of a nation that aspires to be a rainbow nation of many colors, free from oppression, discrimination and fear

As the U.S. and its Western allies become more addicted to war and terror, there will be far more innocent people killed by U.S.-NATO forces in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. People should not fall into media manipulation and distortion. Only resistance by people worldwide will stop NATO terror and force Western leaders to choose the path of peace

Sincere Jews should not play leading roles in the Palestinian solidarity movement, but should instead expose and challenge the racism that exists in their own Jewish communities. So what are Jewish-led and Jewish-identified groups and leaders doing? Certainly, they criticize atrocities committed by Israel in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, but are they clearly defining their positions? Do they oppose Jewish supremacism?

Ghulam Nabi Fai, Executive Director- Kashmir American Council and/ or Kashmiri Centre, shot into the limelight with the news of his arrest on Tuesday, 19 th July 2011 in Virginia, USA. Why is this news so important that it is playing out in Indian media like an unending symphony?

The murder spree in Norway was apparently the work of a Norwegian, not a group of foreigners, and for various other reasons the comparison is not exact. Nonetheless, it's tempting to wonder how many people would still be alive today if George W. Bush or Rudy Giuliani had spoken after the 9-11 attacks as Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg just did

While much remains to be learned about the attacks in Norway, it has exposed the dangerous nexus of Islamophobia, neoconservatism and right-wing Zionism, and what could happen when the wrong person subscribes to those toxic beliefs, Mondoweiss concludes

This brings to the fundamental point, why the media is in a hurry to do the postmortem of such events. They seem to blame on what ever comes handy and are easy targets. It’s a dangerous trend and not good for the consumption of civilized societies. In all humbleness there should be a protest to stop the muck that’s thrown around in the name responsible journalism

A J Street poll published last Thursday shows that 57% of U.S. Jews back a Middle East peace plan based on 1967 borders with mutually agreed-upon land swaps, while 43% oppose such a move. According to the poll, 83% of the American Jews support a U.S.-brokered solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Suffice it to say that the tides are changing, hopefully, for the right reason

By indulging into an entire debate and hair-splitting about who went to which conference is pointless. The Fai phenomenon reveals only two things that need to be focused on. First, the question of why America has acted now. Second, indeed is the business of conferences and how they are funded but this must involve all high profiled conferences, without a prejudice

As America's empire spreads abroad, it becomes ever more the police state at home. The methods used for the suppression of foreigners by military force and violence are eventually mirrored in the “homeland.”

Nepal and Philippines are thus two completely different examples of successful Maoist movements. The key factor in both Nepal and Philippines has been the intelligent independence of mass organizations, the detailed understanding of when to negotiate, when to withdraw and above all the tremendous ability to undermine the propaganda of the mainstream media and take the debate for revolutionary change into a national platform

The first ever GAO(Government Accountability Office) audit of the Federal Reserve has revealed that a startling $16 Trillion had been secretly given out to US banks and corporations and foreign banks everywhere from France to Scotland. From the period between December 2007 and June 2010, the Federal Reserve had secretly bailed out many of the world’s banks, corporations, and governments

The new audit figures show that Bernanke's Fed gave Wall Street and European banksters at least $16.1 trillion (called emergency loans) from December 1, 2007 - July 21, 2010, besides unknown amounts earlier and in the past year. Moreover, it's well known that trillions of dollars are stolen, handed to corporate interests and never returned, as well as gotten in other illegal ways. As a result, taxpayers get stuck with the bill, the nation with unsustainable mounting debt, heading it eventually for ruin

Friday's attack may relate to Norway's support for Palestinian sovereignty. Perhaps it was planned and initiated to influence its policy on granting full Palestinian UN membership in September, and may also be part of Washington's Global War on Terror. Moreover, the notion of a lone bomber/gunman is very suspect, especially one able to kill 91 people, an unprecedented nearly impossible feat singlehanded. Were there others involved? These and other questions demand answers

Half a year after the successful overthrow of the country´s hated dictator Mubarak, the country has witnessed another peak of protests. Is this a replay of the Egyptian people´s aversion against repressive state rule? Or are we witnessing something new?

The allegation is that Mr. Fai’s Kashmir American Council (KAC) was illegally funded by the ISI to exert influence on the US Congress to swing the Kashmir debate in Pakistan’s favour. Did the ISI do it? Possible. Did Mr. Fai use this money? Possible. Was the FBI unaware about it all these years? Not possible

The recent judgment of the Supreme Court of India in Dr. Nandini Sundar and others Vs State of Chhattisgarh and Union Government indicates that the country's judicial system is alive, and a citizen can hope for justice from it

The historical and internationally famous Mahabodhi Temple has been under virtual control of Brahminical Hindus for centuries. The legal mechanism for this unacceptable cultural domination has been provided under the Bodh Gaya Temple Act, 1949 (hereafter BGT Act), which violates the principles of secularism, a basic pillar of the Indian Constitution, and the fundamental rights of religious communities as enshrined in the Constitution

A bombing and mass shooting in Norway on Friday have left at least 87 people dead. Following a large explosion directed against government buildings in the capital, Oslo, a right-wing anti-Islamic extremist opened fire with automatic weapons on youth at a camp run by the ruling Labour Party on nearby Utoya Island

The odd occurrence is the ostensibly quiet population of the United States who are in many cases having the same economic problems and austerity based government solutions. This is a place where the media does want to ask the public the question, “Why aren’t you protesting?”

We would already have had a much needed American revolution in response to the tyranny of the money-fed two-party plutocracy that is destroying the middle class except for one big problem: so much of the American population is just plain stupid. Too stupid to behave like angry Greeks and rise up in the streets to rebel against the dysfunctional government

US-Pakistan relations took a new twist Tuesday when Washington arrested the Kashmiri leader, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, on charges of working for the Pakistani spy agency, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) which purportedly gave $4 million to Dr. Fai for years to lobby for the Kashmir issue

Recently, Mr. Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri, the education minister of Karnataka, a south Indian state, referring to Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and the secular Indians has remarked that all those opposing the one-hour compulsory reading of the Bhagvad Geeta, a Hindu scripture, in schools proposed by his ministry, are foreigners and should leave the country

Article 15 of the Indian Constitution gives fundamental rights to all Indian citizens against any form of discrimination either by the state or any citizen on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. Every Indian is proud about this guarantee without much knowing that the same constitution violets itself on the basis of religion. The Scheduled Caste, known untouchable or Dalits suffer under this violation for sixty one years

Full text of the Supreme Court judgement by Justice Sudershan Reddy and Justice Surinder Singh Nijjar declaring the use and arming of SPOs as well as state support for Salwa Judum in Chattisgarh state of India unconstitutional and directing the state to disarm SPOs, stop using them in counterinsurgency operations, as well as file FIRs and prosecute them vigorously

This article is about the author’s two sons, who weren't blown to pieces as toddlers. The article is also about President Barack Obama's two daughters which Obama never had to bury with closed casket for their remains being incomplete and unrecognizable

UN officials from the World Food Programme (WFP) are not asking for much: $500 million to stave off the effects of what is believed to be the worst drought to hit the Horn of Africa in 60 years. This is not an impossible feat, especially when one considers the geographic extent of the drought and creeping famine. Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya are all affected, and terribly so. Sudan and Eretria are also not far from the center of this encroaching disaster

The lies used to justify the NATO war against Libya have surpassed those created to justify the invasion of Iraq. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch both had honest observers on the ground for months following the rebellion in eastern Libya and both have repudiated every major charge used to justify the NATO war on Libya

The Corpocrats are so totally deluded by their illusion of infinite power that they also believe that the earth offers the means for infinite growth. What they do not seem to understand at all is the fact that man can never, never dominate nature

I couldn't find data about the worldwide situation, but these data from the US do suggest that we may have peaked in terms of resources available for scientific research or, at least, we are plateauing

Contrary to Fox News and Benjamin Netanyahu, Democracy is neither alive nor well in the United States or Israel; indeed it is dying a slow, agonizing death as each nation writhes in pain in adjoining beds unaware that the intravenous feeding tubes controlled by their respective Knessets drip poison into their life sustaining veins

When I go down the beaten path of memory lane and revisit all the hurdles my family went through in our life-long participation with the anti-nuclear movement, my breath become fast and quick. But when I think about the future in terms of where we're headed today, I feel like I have no breath left in me

A majority of Americans believe America is an “exceptional” nation and “a shining beacon of democracy and hope to a dark world”. But, reliable and unbiased evidence shows that real America is an unequal society, oppressive, undemocratic and a violent imperialist power

Some pundits still suffer from “Obama as Savior” complex. Why does he roll over so easily? Why won’t he fight for progressive values or policies? Why does he ignore his base? Why doesn’t he end rather than start wars? How come he let Wall Street off the hook? Why does he leave Main Street to suffer? These questions all have the same answer: to do otherwise might—he and his advisors think—place his political future in jeopardy

A group of research scholars and student volunteers who spent three weeks surveying the Public Distribution System (PDS) around the country has found out that there is strong public sentiment against a transition from food entitlements to cash transfers

When Karnataka’s education minister asked all the educational institutions to teach Bhagwad Gita in the schools, he was not only violating the secular principals of the state but also creating disharmony among different sections of our population

The agitators have proposed two alternative sites, Ambili village and Budha Garia. In case the government chooses not to opt for the above, it would only further the perception of the locals that the government has some vested interests in the project. So it is high time for the government to rethink about its plan for land acquisition for the project before it is too late

We tolerate President Obama, the war-maker and tyrant, at our peril. He is a menace to America and humankind, the palpable, living symbol of the military-industrial complex run amok. He should be impeached

To substantially reduce the amount of radioactive materials released from the plant, Tepco needs to plug holes or cracks in the reactors' containment vessels that are allowing contaminated water to flood on-site facilities, including the reactor buildings and turbine buildings, experts said. The updated road map, however, includes no reference to this critical work

Jeffrey Feltman might want to visit some of Libya’s universities, including Al Fatah which was bombed by NATO on 6/17/11, as students were inside classrooms sitting for their final exams. He will find a growing culture of resistance to NATO bombing their families but also support for a ceasefire and dialogue to end this ill-conceived criminal enterprise

At last count there were at least a dozen mega dangers looming on the horizon all of which have the potential to change the nature of global civilization in profound ways. Yet the body politic seems to take little or no notice and concerns itself largely with issues that will soon be swept away by change. These dangers range from the depletion of our fossil fuel and mineral resources, to shrinking food and water supplies, to rising oceans, to political upheavals

In recent discussions in the peak oil blogosphere, the term "resilience" has taken over much of the space once occupied by "sustainability." Both these words have implications that conflict sharply with the conventional wisdom of our time, but resilience in particular points toward a strategy that, though unwelcome, offers one of the few effective responses to the crisis of our time

The importance of this judgment lies in the recognition by the Supreme Court , that there is a breakdown of the ‘social contract ' between the government and people in these regions, as a consequence of the distorted policies of globalization implemented, pursuant to which illegal and unconstitutional measures were adopted by the State

Once again the city of Mumbai has been rocked with a series of blast, with more than 20 dead & over a hundred seriously injured. Mumbai is now on par with Karachi & Kabul in the list of terror ravaged cities

The tragedy was followed by the great resilience of Mumbai citizens to rehabilitate the victims to line up for blood donations and help in many more ways, the efforts which make us salute Mumbai citizens yet again

Shree Padmanabhswamy temple of Tiruvananthpuram’s lockers have incalculable wealth. Does the God, deity, need so much wealth? And can this vast ocean of riches be of any good to the society at large in the material sense

The French-flagged ship, Dignité – al Karama , was halted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) en route to the shores of Gaza this morning. The small vessel was boarded and reportedly towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod. There were 16 people on the boat, with French, Greek, Tunisian, Canadian, and Swedish passengers among them

Tim DeChristopher is facing 10 years in prison in a sentencing hearing next Tuesday. His crime -- he used civil disobedience to stop an illegal sale of oil and gas leases. After he stopped the leasing by falsely bidding on the lands, the Interior Department determined what was known before the sale -- it was illegal. Yet, the government wants a harsh sentence to send a message to those who would join him in stopping illegal government action, ironically claiming we have to uphold the rule of law

The Arab Revolution is still going on after 6 months of its eruption. And most observers expect it to continue and to expand to more Arab countries in what has been considered to be the most historical moment in the Arab history since the advent of Islam which put Arabs on the stage of history. This revolution revived much of the hopes for progress after decades of Arab defeats and stagnation on various levels

In mid June, Bülent Yıldırım, chairman of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation, declared that the “Mavi Marmara” ship, which was hard hit in the Israeli raid, could not take part in the “Freedom flotilla II” but will “definitely set sail for Gaza when it completes repair and maintenance works.” Was it a realistic decision for the flotilla organizers to set sail without the “Mavi Marmara”? Huseyin Oruç, deputy of the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation explains his position in this interview

Tony Lake appeals to the world for tens, no, hundreds of millions of dollars to save the starving people of Ethiopia and Somalia, never once telling you that the majority, some 10 million, are in the Ogaden and Oromia regions and being subjected to a western funded food aid blockade by the Ethiopian military. Another five million people, maybe more, are starving in Somalia. The heads of the western food agencies are loath to admit that a million or more of those starving are refugees created by the UN funded Ethiopian and AU armies invading and occupying Somali since 2006

This series takes an astrophysicist's-eye view of the predicament we face managing resource limitations, energy production, climate change, and economic growth. The approach is often playfully quantitative, with the aim of arriving at a fresh perspective on our world

Obama has no intention of restoring the rule of law. He not only refuses to prosecute flagrant war crimes, but has immunized those who orchestrated, led and carried out the torture. At the same time he has dramatically increased war crimes, including drone strikes in Pakistan

The people of Jangalmahal and rights activists across the West Bengal expect and demand that the new Government announce a thorough investigation in all the cases of Encounter Deaths in West Bengal and give examplary punishment to the culprits and due compensation to the victim families

In a judgment that could change the face of anti-Naxal operations, the Supreme Court has held that arming civilians to take on Naxals is unconstitutional. The judgement has come under severe attack. Whay does the judgement hurt some people so much?

East Africa's worst drought in 60 years is putting 11 million lives at risk, many of them in war-torn Somalia, where thousands of hungry families are making the dangerous trek across parched, violent territory to the promise of safety and food in Kenya

When we have more than 45 million people living below the poverty line in the U.S. and public services are being cut drastically, should the federal government be handing out $6 billion to build a new plutonium facility whose primary beneficiary would be Bechtel? It is not a New Mexico issue, it is a national and international issue, and it is your call

The boycott law is the latest in a series of ever-more draconian laws being introduced by the far-right. The legislation's goal is to intimidate those Israeli citizens, Jews and Palestinians, who have yet to bow down before the majority-rule mob

Buoyed by passage of their anti-boycott bill, Knesset Yisrael Beitenu and Likud party extremists taste blood and want more. Most worrisome is a proposed measure to investigate leftist group activities, heading for a final vote next week

The wave of democratic unrest sweeping aside dictators in the Middle East and North Africa is already upon Israel’s doorstep. The tentative unity deal between Fatah and Hamas and the opening of the Rafah crossing are among the first fruits of the Arab Spring for Palestinians

The media attack on public sector unions has reached a timely zenith, perfectly in sync with the politicians' anti-union deathblow. This coordinated campaign is happening nationwide, and includes Democratic and Republican marauders on a state-by-state basis

On Friday, July 1, prisoners in California's infamous Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay State Prison began a courageous and determined hunger strike. This then, very quickly, turned into a display of collective outrage and solidarity among prisoners throughout the state and beyond

The pro-coal, pro-gas, pro-war, neoconservative Australian Gillard Labor Government has proposed a Carbon Tax-Emissions Trading Scheme -Ignore Agriculture that has produced considerable public debate. Careful analysis of this Carbon Price plan reveals that, contrary to Labor Government propaganda, it will only reduce Australia 's disproportionately huge annual Domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution rate by 8.5% by 2020 and by 53.2% by 2050

The indignant global response to the phone hacking and police bribery by UK employees of Rupert Murdoch's Media Empire obscures the awful major crimes of this Evil Empire: (a) promotion of the War on Terror and genocide-ignoring non-reportage of the 12 million deaths associated with US and US Alliance wars in Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan and (b) anti-science non-reportage and false reporting about the worsening Climate Crisis

Largely ignored by Washington, Western governments, and America's media, the ruling Al Khalifa monarchy continues cracking down brutally against nonviolent protesters since civil resistance began last February

Just before a fortnight from Pakistan and India foreign minister-level talks in New Dehli, the well-coordinated attacks might be a planned conspiracy to derail the resumption of peace process but this softening tone and tenor of the politicians might have buried the dreams of Indian fanatics

Even before the real perpetrators of the recent attack on Mumbai are brought into light, even before the investigation and investigators have come out with evidences against the presumed outfits behind the attack, Some sections of the media, civil society, and politicians have given their verdict; 'Islamic Terrorism.'

The ongoing debate around the poverty line has caught momentum with the government’s declaration to conduct the below poverty line (BPL) census 2011. Since the very definition of the National Poverty Line has been questioned by many, including the Supreme Court of India in April 2011, it needs to be redefined

Large predators like sharks, lions and wolves are on the decline worldwide, a trend that is disrupting the Earth's ecosystem in all kinds of unusual ways, researchers said Thursday. The planet is currently in the midst of the sixth mass extinction, said the study by scientists from 22 different institutions in six countries

World energy policy is gripped by a fallacy — the idea that coal is destined to stay cheap for decades to come. This assumption supports investment in ‘clean-coal’ technology and trumps serious efforts to increase energy conservation and develop alternative energy sources. It is an important enough assumption about our energy future that it demands closer examination

As one of the cleverest political conquistadors to ever hoodwink the American public, you have to admit -- our Commander and Chief is one smooth talking peccadillo. It was seven long years ago that the skinny little guy with a funny name, Senator Barack Obama, delivered his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention

Short of finalizing details and assuring enough bipartisan support, it's a done deal to slash Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other social spending while leaving outsized military budgets and generous handouts to corporate favorites in place

The concern was that Wired was concealing material to glorify and shield its source, Poulsen's long-time associate Adrian Lamo, in a way that distorted the truth and, independently, denied the public important context for what happened here. Wired's release of the full chat logs leaves no doubt that those concerns were justified, and that Wired was less than honest about what it was concealing

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: "Article 20 "1. Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law." The Fox News Channel is endless propaganda for war, and various other deadly policies. Charge the man with selling wars!

Israeli legislators realise, though, that in order to quash all internal resistance, the destruction of the rights groups will not be enough. Their ultimate target is the High Court of Justice, the only institution that still has the power and authority to defend democratic practices

While Abbas is now leading a diplomatic mission to drum up support for his UN initiative, Fayyad is trying to collect funds to prop up the PA economy for a few more months. Meanwhile, Palestinian national unity - without which Palestinians will remain hopelessly fragmented and vulnerable to external pressures and foreign priorities – remains merely ink on paper

The simple-minded clinging now, in 2011, to the absurd tenets of The Great 9/11 Lie, after the publication of Where Did the Towers Go? The Evidence of Controlled Free-Energy Technology on 9/11 is no less nutty—or no less ignorant, or no less submissive to the dictates of crazed and oppressive masters—than would have been his clinging to the pre-Copernican, pre-Galilean, or pre-Darwinian conceptions of the world in 1543, or 1632, or 1859

Coming days will determine the future of industrialisation in the state that has signed more than 79 MoUs in last ten years but whose track record of following them has been poor. The intent and courage of Naveen government in reckoning and accommodating the view of the people in the process will prove to be the key in resolving issues

Whoever was responsible for Karzai’s killing, the attack, coming in the wake of the assault on the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul two weeks ago and the earlier high-profile assassinations of the Kandahar police chief and others, only confirms the popular perception that the government and the foreign occupation troops are incapable of protecting top officials and supporters

For years now, everyone thought that natural gas was cleaner than coal and more benevolent than oil. . But shale gas, methane trapped in hellishly deep rock formations, has challenged this dated perception. In fact, the very stuff that energy experts champion as North America's new energy wunderkind may be dirtier than coal, if not as extreme as Alberta's dirty bitumen

On Friday, July 1, prisoners in California's infamous Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay State Prison began a courageous and determined hunger strike. This then, very quickly, turned into a display of collective outrage and solidarity among prisoners throughout the state and beyond

The following is a set of principles that might make it easier to deal, on a personal or individual level, with global issues arising between about 2011 and 2030. After that date, there will be changes far more alien to our accustomed word-view: the demise of government and with it the end of money as a means of exchange

On two past occasions, the average annual oil price has hit $100 per barrel and this has been followed by recession. At time of writing (7th July) the annual average for Brent was $95.4, on course to breach $100 some time in September. Will history repeat itself? Or has the global economy grown immune to high energy prices?

Despite the celebrations and Obama’s soothing words, there are major question still unresolved. The line of the border between the two Sudans has still not been agreed; the Abyei region remains a matter of dispute; and the division of oil revenues, which are vital to survival of both countries, is still undecided

Though it would further isolate Israel and America, I don’t think a UN General Assembly resolution recognizing a Palestinian state in 1967 borders would change the facts on the ground. But if a vote in the General Assembly was taken against the background of the demonstration of Palestinian people power as outlined above, that could be a game-changer

In the very hours of forbidding the passage of the aid flotilla to Gaza, the financially strapped Greek government welcomed the approval of an €8.7 billion aid payment from the European Union. With Israel's position as an EU-groupie, even the Associated Press couldn't resist smirking at Greece's underlying ‘incentive to cozy up to its rich Mediterranean neighbor'

America's dominant media, especially television, produce a daily diet of fiction portrayed as fact in their role as de facto thought-control gatekeepers, substituting managed and junk food food news for the real kind

"From Cheerleader to Enemy of the State" is a chapter from RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War, which presents the experiences of war resisters, deserters, and peace activists from the USA, Europe, Iraq, and Afghanistan

On Sunday France seemingly allied itself with Russia and China in calling on NATO to immediately stop its counterproductive and counterintuitive bombing, as more countries witness public demonstrations against NATO’s actions in Libya

Listening to Congress debate deficit deduction is like listening to a den of lions discuss the welfare of zebras. In both cases the debate is very one-sided. Democrats and Republicans sound disagreeable on TV, but their arguments differ by the tiniest of degrees (like lions fighting over how best to eat a zebra.)

Last Tuesday (July 5th) the Supreme Court, in a historic and welcome judgment, disallowed the use of Special Police Officers in the "counterinsurgency" campaign against the CPI(Maoist). Sections of the media have largely focused on the supposed impact this will have on the security forces

The unemployment rate rose for a third consecutive month in June, as the US economy added far fewer jobs than new workers, according to the latest jobs report released Friday by the Labor Department. The report confirms a new downturn in the labor market amid the Obama administration's campaign to cut government jobs and spending

While millions rage across Middle East, North Africa, and European countries, it's hard understanding why Americans so willingly let corrupt government officials steal them blind and destroy their lives. It's long past time they got mad enough to stop it because nothing will change things otherwise

But Defense Department expenses are only half the story. Double the Pentagon's $700 billion for a true estimate of the amount of money the U.S. spent on war-related issues last year. That's $1.4 trillion a year for the United States. How is this possible?

The crumbling empire has depleted the US treasury. As the Congress and White House fight over raising the debt ceiling, the cost of war aggressively erodes any possibility of maintaining stable living standards for the American middle and working classes and heightens growing inequalities between the top 1% and the rest of the American people

Prisoners' protest in California reiterates the old, but seldom ignored fact: in cases, there is no difference between center and periphery in terms of prison condition. And, prison, a tool to rule, mirrors ruling political arrangement

Hopfenberg’s apparently unforeseen, unfortunately unwelcome and still unchallenged scientific finding regarding the relationship between food supply and human population numbers is being denied by the very experts upon whom the human community relies for guidance and direction

The timing of the census and preparedness of various stakeholder-agencies regarding the methodology for data collection and analysis of the enumeration puts both the relevance and efficacy of the whole exercise in question

On July 5, 2011, the Adivasis of Munda Khutkatti areas – Khunti, Murhu and Arki blocks of Khunti district gathered in Kachary Maidan of Khunti situated at a distance of 31 kilometres from the state capital of Jharkhand

Scientists from the Surveying and Collecting Specimens and Laboratory Measuring Group confirmed "radioactive isotopes (radioisotopes) at bombed sites" from field surveys conducted. Scientific analysis was conducted at the Nuclear Energy Institution of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. It showed that "several sites contain even higher than expected doses of uranium," including holes from NATO missiles and ordnance fragments

As the Audacity of Hope is now negotiating its passage from the concrete to the symbolic, from the present to history, our river is flowing on, to merge with that of our most recent mentors – the initiators of the Arab Spring in Tunisia, in Egypt and in Yemen, in Libya, in Syria and in Bahrain

There is a tendency among elitist Westernized Indians to think of corruption as an obstacle to the coming of the corporate Promised Land where “People Like Us (PLU)” enjoy the benefits of the free market untroubled by government gnats. There seems to be no awareness that the joint-stock corporation has been the greatest fount of corruption in human history

Minister Sibal, who has been gathering portfolios much like some people collect dead butterflies, appears to believe that he has inherited Home Affairs too from his colleague Minister Chidambaram. After the breaking up of Shri Ramdev’s “yoga camp” at the Ramlila Maidan, “Sibal said the police action should serve as a lesson to everybody”

According to the latest news released by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), China along with a number of developing countries are now the biggest investors in large-scale renewables while Germany surges ahead on rooftop solar. Last year, investors pumped a record US$211 billion into renewables -- about one-third more than the US$160 billion invested in 2009, and a 540% rise since 2004

Phosphate has been essential to feeding the world since the Green Revolution, but its excessive use as a fertilizer has led to widespread pollution and eutrophication. Now, many of the world’s remaining reserves are starting to be depleted

The simple act of salvaging energy by buying used goods instead of new ones – a step that Ben Franklin would have appreciated, interestingly enough – might just turn out to be a useful step in the direction of the ideals that some of us, at least, were celebrating a few nights ago

Expect it eventually in America, the heart of predatory capitalism, stealing from the many for the privileged few, bankers and war profiteers always first in line for handouts, as much as they want whenever they want it

A tide of revolutions is sweeping across the Middle East. It is the newest unfolding chapter in the history of revolutions that historians and political and social scientists alike are looking at with awe. Unfortunately, with the exception of a few peaceful revolutions in Eastern Europe, history has not seen revolutionary social changes without violence. In this article, I will try to explore the “Arab Spring” under the light of various theories of revolutions

The Yemeni people are unrelenting in their demands for democracy. Millions continue to stage rallies across their country in a display of will that is proving the most robust out of all the Arab revolutions

We will return to Gaza. We will stay in the struggle until Israel stops its apartheid policies, its land and water seizures in the West Bank, its destruction of homes and olive farms, its encroachment by walls, barbed wire and check points. We will stay at it until Palestine is free

Israel rapidly understood that the message behind the Freedom Flotilla was more than lifting the Israeli siege on Gaza, but rather to convey a message to the world that the silence about the Israeli occupation has given Israel a pretext to continue its war crimes

The men and women who were part of Flotilla2 and all the others who made it possible deserve our applause for their commitment and their courage. Today, more than at any other time in the past, we have reason to be optimistic about their struggle and the valiant struggle of the Palestinian people and all those who champion their noble cause

Google any of the indicted individuals and the results reveal NOTHING, no information on any of them. According to the media, they all held positions in Hezbollah and two of them had important positions. Nevertheless, there is no on-line information on any of them. Where did these "media sources" obtain their contradictory information?

As long as the N.E.A. as well as organized labor in general remain tied to the corporate-dominated Democratic Party, public education will deteriorate, critical thinking will be undermined, wages will remain low, and the working class will continue to suffer a decline

The issue of “black money” is one of the focal points of the current debate about corruption in India but neither the discussion nor the proposals to deal with it show any understanding of the phenomenon. This is not surprising, for corporate mass media have done little to illuminate the issue. A brief history lesson is necessary to show its real nature and magnitude

What is extraordinary in this Australian national debate is the near total exclusion from public discussion in Parliament and the Mainstream media of 25 science-based, Elephant in the Room matters relating to climate change action

When Washington wages war, only conquest, colonization, pillaging, and domination matter - never truth, rule of law standards or democratic values. Iraqis understand. So do Afghans, Pakistanis, Somalis, Yemenis, Palestinians, and now Libyans

Most observers with insight into the global oil supply and demand balance, and that are free of any institutional constraints that prevent them from speaking out freely, are looking for much tighter oil markets in the next year and a half

A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit predicts a massive worldwide growth in nuclear energy production over the next decade. The impact of the Fukushima disaster, now being described as the worst industrial accident in history, is expected to be minimal

The fairy-tale of 26% of profits to locals is about to end today , Wednesday, 06 July 2011. The Mining Ministry is all set to put before the GOM a brutally raped and mangled draft of the original bill put forward by B K Handique

The Degrowth movement advocates richer, more rewarding lives with less material stuff. Our economic efforts should focus on providing basic needs to everyone in the human family, rather than enriching a few, while others starve. Beyond basic necessities, happiness does not come from consuming more stuff. Happiness comes from friends, family, community, creativity, leisure, love, companionship, and time spent in nature. These things can grow without much material throughput. These are the qualities of life we should be helping to grow

Humanity is near to breaching the sustainability of Earth, and needs a technological revolution greater and faster than the industrial revolution to avoid "a major planetary catastrophe," warns a new United Nations report

What Fishman's article actually does is bolster the previous view of Manning's alleged leaks as motivated by noble and understandable horror at what the U.S. was doing in Iraq specifically and that region generally, and a resulting desire to take action to shed light on what he was seeing and to do what he could to stop it

“George Papandreou is not bought, he is rented. He sells public enterprises to the multinationals. He reduces wages, pensions and employment at the behest of the IMF. He turns over the public treasury to the European banks. He supports NATO’s war against Libya. He directs the Greek Coast Guard to enforce Netanyahu’s blockade of Gaza.”

Under pressure from Israel and the United States, the Greek government has prohibited the Freedom Flotilla from sailing to Gaza from its ports. But for its organizers, the fight has just begun and Israel will remain under pressure by civil society who will continue to denounce the illegality of the blockade, and to fight to go to Gaza. Dimitri Plionis, one of the Greek spokesmen for the flotilla, responds here to the questions of Silvia Cattori

It is amusing that the country having a dubious distinction of being a home to world’s most hungry people should be shaken by the threat of hunger by a few. But that is what has been happening since Mahatma Gandhi forged them into a weapon

Whether well, ill or recuperating, at home or away, propagandists always find ways to misreport about him. In fact, that's precisely what they're paid to do, producing fake made up managed news, not real information and analysis only found through alternative print and broadcast sources, doing it daily as a public service

‘When you bombed these brothers and sisters of mine,, you bombed me,’’ says Jesus in Matthew chapter 25, (paraphrased of course). Obama, as presidents before him, follows the instructions of his promoters, the ruling investors, and disregarding the teaching and warnings of his “personal savior,” gives to the rich at home, bombs abroad to be able to take from the poor everywhere, and lies that this is necessary and good

As new evidence and new whistleblowers come forward seemingly every week, the import of the 9/11 truth movement multiplies in historic significance. All of this points to the urgent need for a new, independent investigation with subpoena and other grand jury powers—a citizen's commission that is truly free of partisan political interference

Two hundred and thirty-five years after the American colonies declared independence from Britain, the passengers on the U.S. Boat to Gaza call for a new American Declaration of Independence, this time from Israel

Decent people must (a) inform everyone they can about the continuing US or US surrogate occupation, mass murder, mass pedocide, holocaust and genocide in the Occupied Palestinian, Somali, Haitian, Iraqi, and Afghan Territories, (b) demand Sanctions and political sidelining against the genocidal Neocon American and Zionist Imperialists (NAZIs), and (c) make 4 July Independence From America Day around the World

It is a shame to have to ask whether democracy is a mirage in the United States, no doubt most Americans would rather be celebrating U.S. democracy than questioning it. But the reality of the disconnect between government and the people has become so stark it is impossible to ignore

This week we learned that a leading denier of climate change has taken $1 million from the oil and coal industries over the last decade; among his many services on behalf of the skeptic crowd, Dr. Willie Soon of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics has sought to weaken a major assessment of global warming by the UN's leading climate science body

Australia leads the First World in annual per capita greenhouse gas pollution, is the world's leading coal exporter and is among the world's top liquid natural gas exporters. However Australia, like its fellow major GHG polluters Canada and the US, wants business as usual

The outcry in Britain against Sheikh Salah has shocked Israel’s 1.3-million Palestinian citizens. For them, he is a spiritual leader and head of a respected party, the Islamic Movement. He is also admired by the wider Palestinian public. The secular Fatah movement, including Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Authority’s prime minister, were among those condemning his arrest

African Union's decision to ignore International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against Libyan leader Gaddafi manifests a resistance to imperial NATO's design being imposed on Africa . The African resistance is getting generated in the background of a changing geopolitical reality with a declining trend of a section of capital. The AU defiance is actually against the world masters, especially NATO, the masters' military arm

With the announcement of Afghan drawdown plan by US President Obama, Afghan Taliban are likely to follow ‘wait and watch’ policy in which they are supposed to revitalise their energies, regroup their factions, recruit ‘new blood’ and widen their control in most of the provinces

Indian Reactors Can Keep Cool without Power for a Week , claims S K Sharma, former Chairman of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board of India (AERB), and head of the safety review committee appointed by AERB to study the status of Indian Nuclear plants in the wake of the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear power plant

Let us also allow the Mahatma's statue in Coimbatore to stand headless—as a reminder of our blighted childishness! All we need to do is only to put a charka by the demolished statue as a remainder of our mindless acts. After all, where ignorance is a virtue it is certainly folly to be wise

A vihar dedicated to the Buddha, the apostle of universal love, instead of a Brahminical Hindu temple or a Muslim mosque, being built on the disputed site might actually be a mutually acceptable and eminently sensible settlement for many Hindus and Muslims themselves, who are fed up of the hate-driven politics of mandir and masjid being played in their name

Shortly after news came that the US aid ship “The Audacity of Hope” had departed from port and was attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the vessel was attacked by heavily armed Greek commandos and forced to return to port

Those who have understood the magnitude of the environmental situation that presently confronts us are faced with a two-fold task. The first is to clearly identify the nature of those forces that have brought us to where we are. The second is to envision the changes needed - both in our thinking and in our actions. One of the most articulate and visionary allies in this task is the late Thomas Berry, theologian, mystic and cultural historian

There is a larger fire smoldering that threatens to take down our entire nation. Our nation’s infrastructure shimmers and crackles with heat. The rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer. The poor did not start that fire, but, like Nero, our rich elite assure us that America’s problems come from the weakest among us

India has consistently achieved the second highest rates of GDP growth but moved down to 134 position in the Human Development Index in 2009, compared to 128 a year before. The 2010 report puts India far behind in terms of achievements in tackling multidimensional poverty. The report concludes that economic growth has not lead to human development or less inequality

Signs are that the battle against 911-Truth is growing desperate: Those who are interested—and all humanity should be very interested—can tell that the fight is heating up and coming to a head. How can they tell? By opening their ears and listening to the serpents singing in America

During the first 100 days of NATO targeting of civilians, 6121 were killed or injured. The statistical breakdown is as follows: 3093 Men were injured and 668 were killed. Women killed number 260 and 1318 injured. Children killed number 141 and 641 injured

The undue emphasis given on non-state terrorism and almost completely ignoring the acts of terror committed by states is responsible for misleading data and statistics as well as the definitional dilemma relating to terrorism. Terrorism must be defined and determined on the basis of the acts committed rather than the actors involved

In a recent meeting with some news paper editors India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, “As Gandhiji said, poverty is the biggest polluter. We need to have a balance.” So far the media has faithfully reproduced this quote as being that of MK Gandhi. But it isn’t. And anyone who has made the slightest effort to acquaint themselves with Gandhi’s philosophy should have immediately caught this

While in Libya, I witnessed NATO’s targeting of civilians: NATO bombs and missiles landed in residential neighborhoods, hit schools, exploded near hospitals, destroyed parts of the public broadcasting infrastructure, and narrowly missed killing students at Al Fateh University. When civilians are targeted in war, or “low kinetic” activities, crimes are committed

If I could publicly ask our beloved president one question, it would be this: "Mr. President, in your short time in office you've waged war against six countries — Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya. This makes me wonder something. With all due respect: What is wrong with you?"

In a speech to the Venezuelan nation broadcast last night, Mr Chavez assured his countrymen that he is doing well as he sought to cool growing questions about his health and ability to govern. He said the operation took out a growth in which there were "cancerous cells."

The Las Conchas Fire has woken us up. It is time we learn from this deadly fire and stop a proposed plutonium bomb factory at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). I’ll tell you how your voice is crucial in this matter

This week the United States Senate unanimously adopted a resolution drafted by its masters, the State of Israel and AIPAC, to prevent the United Nations, of which the United States is a member, from exercising its constitutional rights to free speech to deliberate on the recognition of a Palestinian State . The resolution is an exercise in coercion

Before the parades begin, the flag-waving commences, and the fireworks explode this 4th of July, I want to recognize a large contingent of patriots who help to protect us from terrorism and defend what freedom and democracy we still enjoy. To the unemployed and under-employed who nevertheless reject military service as a way out of economic troubles. Thank-you for not “serving.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made a series of stern and fiery statements recently, giving the impression that war is somehow upon us once again. Oddly, Clinton’s sudden reappearance into the Middle East diplomacy scene was triggered by the brave attempts of peace activists to break the siege on Gaza

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned at the recent developments of accusing POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), the organization spearheading a peaceful, democratic movement for more than five years against forceful land acquisition for the proposed POSCO project in Odisha, for ‘using’ children as shields in the movement

It is more than shocking to hear the circular of IIT Delhi for the Dalit-OBC students to learn etiquettes and manners. What does it mean? Do the students hailing from these categories suffer from cultural inadequacies? Can we really call it like that? What are the learned professors of our IITs going to teach to these students? Why are such classes necessary for the Dalits, tribal and OBCs only?

The people of Pakistan and India must learn from the errors of the past and stop endorsing partition, as it only leads to continuing hostility between the two nations; the concocted and exaggerated stories regarding the freedom movement must come to an end

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